Time for the news. This week, Decoy Deloy salutes the iconic music and toy artist Frank Kozik, lusts after Steve Lacy’s Fender signature Strat, details Iron Maiden vs. Maiden Wear, and pours one out for MTV News—a major influence on WASTOIDS Music News. Plus, Grace Potter announces Mother Road, out August 18 on Fantasy Records.
RIP FRANK KOZIK
Famed artist Frank Kozik passed away on May 6, 2023. Kozik is known for his posters for bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, music videos, and album covers for Queens of the Stone Age, Melvins, The Offspring, and more. He became a major figure in the designer toy field, creating vinyl figures with Kidrobot, where he served as creative director. Kozik is survived by his wife, Sharon, and leaves behind a colorful and distinct body of work; we salute him.
STEVE LACY SIGNATURE STRAT
Do you have a “bad habit” of buying too many guitars? Well, Fender has announced a Steve Lacy signature Stratocaster. Dubbed a “Gen-Z guitar hero” for his solo work and collabs with Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Tyler the Creator, and others, Lacy’s “People Pleaser” Strat features custom dice inlays designed by Steve, single-coil pickups and a custom “Steve Lacy Chaos Fuzz circuit.”
IRON MAIDEN VS MAIDEN WEAR
Do you often mix up ladies underwear and metal bands? That’s the matter at the heart of Iron Maiden’s attempt to block Min Yu Chen’s trademark application for the name “Maiden Wear,” her line of corsets, bras, and panties. Citing “a likelihood of confusion,” the band’s lawyers are trying to shut Maiden Wear down, despite the fact that, you know, Iron Maiden didn’t invent the word “Maiden.”
MTV NEWS CLOSES
This week, Paramount announced it would shutter MTV News. The once iconic news division got started in the late ‘80s with The Week in Rock, hosted by former Rolling Stone writer and editor Kurt Loder. Through the ‘90s and 2000s, on-air presenters like SuChin Pak, John Norris, Jamil Smith, Tabitha Soren, and many more covered politics, music, and pop culture. In 2016, the brand was relaunched under the watch of editorial director Jessica Hopper, who oversaw a fantastic roster of writers—though that experiment was sadly short lived. MTV News joins Buzzfeed and Vice in an ever-growing list of news division shut downs, which means before long the only place you’re going to be able to get your news is here at WASTOIDS.
This week, Grace Potter has announced her new album, Mother Road, out August 18 on Fantasy Records.
To celebrate, Hello has a killer Grace Potter drop, featuring shirts, stickers, air fresheners and more. Perfect for hopping in the car and hitting the road—and speaking of hitting the road, we’re taking the next couple of weeks off from the news, but we’ll be back early in June. Until then—give us a call with your news tips: 1-877-WASTOIDS. Seriously, if you call and leave a message with a news tip, we WILL cover it.
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